Vitamin D status and cholecalciferol supplementation in chronic kidney disease patients: An Italian cohort report

This study investigated the factors associated with hypovitaminosis D, in a cohort of 405 prevalent patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 2–4, living in Italy and followed-up in tertiary care. The effect of cholecalciferol 10,000 IU once-a-week for 12 months was evaluated in a subgroup of 100 consecutive patients with hypovitaminosis D. Vitamin D deficiency was observed in 269 patients (66.4%) whereas vitamin D insufficiency was found in 67 patients (16.5%). In diabetic patients, 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency was detected in 80% of cases. In patients older than 65 years, the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was 89%. In the univariate analysis, 25-hydroxyvitamin D was negatively related to age, parathyroid hormone (PTH), proteinuria, and Charlson index, while a positive relationship has emerged with hemoglobin level. On multiple regression analysis, only age and PTH levels were independently associated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. No relationship emerged between vitamin D deficiency and renal function. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D or prevalence of hypovitaminosis D did not differ between patients on a free-choice diet and on a renal diet, including low-protein, low-phosphorus regimens. Twelve-month oral cholecalciferol administration increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D and reduced PTH serum levels. In summary, hypovitaminosis D is very prevalent in CKD patients (83%) in Italy, and it is similar to other locations. PTH serum levels and age, but not renal function, are the major correlates of hypovitaminosis D. Implementation of renal diets is not associated with higher risk of vitamin D depletion. Oral cholecalciferol administration increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D and mildly reduced PTH serum levels. Oral cholecalciferol supplementation should be recommended as a regular practice in CKD patients, also when serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D determination is not available or feasible

Definition of an Artificial Reef Unit through Hydrodynamic and Structural (CFD and FEM) Models—Application to the Ares-Betanzos Estuary

[Abstract] The application of hydrodynamics to the definition of artificial reefs is of great interest since the positioning of the artificial reef modules on the sea floor alters the water velocity field, causing an appropriate circulation of nutrients and promoting a habitat for settling desired species. Nevertheless, the designs must be subjected to a structural calculation that will condition the constructive process to be applied. The present research proposes a methodology to determine the geometry of an artificial reef in terms of hydrodynamic and structural criteria. The solution proposed was analyzed through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the Finite Element Method (FEM). Using concrete as base material for artificial reefs, four different dosages were proposed with different proportions of cement and water, leading to different mechanical properties, which determine different constructive strategies, such as dwell time in the mold. From the hydrodynamic point of view, it was found that the solution proposed provides a proper replacement of nutrients. From the structural point of view, it was found that the solution proposed does not need steel reinforcements in concrete, which improves the sustainability of the artificial reef. The four different concrete dosages will condition the constructive strategy through the dwelling time in the mold and, for any established production, the necessary number of molds (formworks).Xunta de Galicia; CN-10MMA003C

Influence of PPh3 moiety in the anticancer activity of new organometallic ruthenium complexes

The effect of the PPh3 group in the antitumor activity of some new organometallic Ruthenium (II) complexes has been investigated. Several complexes of the type [Ru(II)(Cl)(PPh3)(Lig-N)], [Ru(II)(Cl)2(Lig-N)] (where Lig-N=pyridine derivate) and [Ru(II)(Cl)(PPh3)2], have been synthesized and characterized, and an important increment of the antitumor activity and cytotoxicity of the complexes due to the presence of PPh3 moiety has been demonstrated, affording IC50 values of 5.2 μM in HL-60 tumour cell lines. Atomic Force Microscopy, Circular Dichroism and Electrophoresis experiments have proved that these complexes can bind DNA resulting in a distortion of both secondary and tertiary structures. Ethidium bromide displacement Fluorescence Spectroscopy studies and Viscosity measurements support that the presence of PPh3 group induces intercalation interactions with DNA. Indeed, crystallographic analysis, suggest that intra-molecular π-π interactions could be involved in the intercalation within DNA base pairs. Furthermore, HPLC-MS studies have confirmed a strong interaction between Ruthenium complexes and proteins (Ubiquitin and Potato Carboxypeptidase Inhibitor -PCI-) including slower kinetic due to the presence of PPh3 moiety, which could have an important role in detoxification mechanism and others. Finally, Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry (IMMS) experiments have proved that there is no change in the structural conformation of the proteins owing to their bonding to Ruthenium complexes. This seems particularly important in the case of PCI, that may be a suitable candidate for vehiculizing these complexes in a selective manner into tumour cells. In agreement with these results, further investigations should be carried out to clarify either there is a favoured binding to DNA or to specific proteins, thus to elucidate their main biological target

Spectrum of mutations in Italian patients with familial hypercholesterolemia: New results from the LIPIGEN study

Background Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by elevated plasma levels of LDL-cholesterol that confers an increased risk of premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Early identification and treatment of FH patients can improve prognosis and reduce the burden of cardiovascular mortality. Aim of this study was to perform the mutational analysis of FH patients identified through a collaboration of 20 Lipid Clinics in Italy (LIPIGEN Study). Methods We recruited 1592 individuals with a clinical diagnosis of definite or probable FH according to the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria. We performed a parallel sequencing of the major candidate genes for monogenic hypercholesterolemia (LDLR, APOB, PCSK9, APOE, LDLRAP1, STAP1). Results A total of 213 variants were detected in 1076 subjects. About 90% of them had a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants. More than 94% of patients carried pathogenic variants in LDLR gene, 27 of which were novel. Pathogenic variants in APOB and PCSK9 were exceedingly rare. We found 4 true homozygotes and 5 putative compound heterozygotes for pathogenic variants in LDLR gene, as well as 5 double heterozygotes for LDLR/APOB pathogenic variants. Two patients were homozygous for pathogenic variants in LDLRAP1 gene resulting in autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia. One patient was found to be heterozygous for the ApoE variant p.(Leu167del), known to confer an FH phenotype. Conclusions This study shows the molecular characteristics of the FH patients identified in Italy over the last two years. Full phenotypic characterization of these patients and cascade screening of family members is now in progress

Familial hypercholesterolemia: The Italian Atherosclerosis Society Network (LIPIGEN)

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Primary dyslipidemias are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by abnormal levels of circulating lipoproteins. Among them, familial hypercholesterolemia is the most common lipid disorder that predisposes for premature cardiovascular disease. We set up an Italian nationwide network aimed at facilitating the clinical and genetic diagnosis of genetic dyslipidemias named LIPIGEN (LIpid TransPort Disorders Italian GEnetic Network). METHODS: Observational, multicenter, retrospective and prospective study involving about 40 Italian clinical centers. Genetic testing of the appropriate candidate genes at one of six molecular diagnostic laboratories serving as nationwide DNA diagnostic centers. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: From 2012 to October 2016, available biochemical and clinical information of 3480 subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia identified according to the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) score were included in the database and genetic analysis was performed in 97.8% of subjects, with a mutation detection rate of 92.0% in patients with DLCN score 656. The establishment of the LIPIGEN network will have important effects on clinical management and it will improve the overall identification and treatment of primary dyslipidemias in Italy

Familial hypercholesterolemia: The Italian Atherosclerosis Society Network (LIPIGEN)

Background and aims Primary dyslipidemias are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by abnormal levels of circulating lipoproteins. Among them, familial hypercholesterolemia is the most common lipid disorder that predisposes for premature cardiovascular disease. We set up an Italian nationwide network aimed at facilitating the clinical and genetic diagnosis of genetic dyslipidemias named LIPIGEN (LIpid TransPort Disorders Italian GEnetic Network). Methods Observational, multicenter, retrospective and prospective study involving about 40 Italian clinical centers. Genetic testing of the appropriate candidate genes at one of six molecular diagnostic laboratories serving as nationwide DNA diagnostic centers. Results and conclusions From 2012 to October 2016, available biochemical and clinical information of 3480 subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia identified according to the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) score were included in the database and genetic analysis was performed in 97.8% of subjects, with a mutation detection rate of 92.0% in patients with DLCN score \ue2\u89\ua56. The establishment of the LIPIGEN network will have important effects on clinical management and it will improve the overall identification and treatment of primary dyslipidemias in Italy

Context-aware recommender systems with graph convolutional embeddings (CARS-GCE)

Treballs Finals de Grau de Matemàtiques, Facultat de Matemàtiques, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2021, Director: Jordi Vitrià i Marca i Paula Gómez Duran[en] The amount of online service providers is increasing every year, including multimedia streaming services and online shops. These services show a great interest in accurately recommending more products and more content to their costumers, as this strategy clearly encourages their clients to purchase or consume more items provided by them. Recommender Systems are a useful tool that automatizes the task of predicting the preferences of the users of a service in order to recommend them items that will match their taste. Research on this area generally seeks for ways to improve the performance of the mathematical models these systems are based on in order to obtain better recommendations as result. In this work, our main goal is to understand some traditional models used for recommendation and extend them so that they can detect complex patterns in the ratings given by users to items, capturing high-order interactions between features. Also, we aim to adapt them as Context-Aware Recommender Systems, which also take into account information about the context in which a user consumes a given item while computing their predictions. First, the recommendation problem and Recommender Systems will be clearly defined and then, two traditional models will be introduced: Matrix Factorization and Factorization Machines. These both models are related to the concept of Embedding, which will also be detailed. It will be explained that these models present limitations that prevent them from capturing high-order interactions between features. We aim to give the models the ability to capture these high-order interactions by using Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) instead of the Embedding Layer. GCNs allow us to approach the recommendation problem as a graph link prediction problem, called Graph Convolutional Matrix Completion. GCNs encode the information of each feature in the graph and aggregates to it the correlated knowledge from neighboring features in the graph. Then, the graph structure will be adapted so that context information can be included in it. Also, the models will be fed with item metadata, formatted as side-information. Finally, we will detail the data used to train the model, how this data is treated and how the model is configured. In order to fairly compare the results obtained by each model, each one of their optimal settings will be calculated through Bayesian Optimization. Afterwards, we will expose and analyze the results. To conclude, it should be remarked that the inclusion of Graph Convolutional Networks with context information in the model implementation has a great positive impact on the results. Also, working with context in a traditional embedding structure may be benefitial only for specific models. The addition of item metadata shows different behavior depending on the metadata added and the model that is being evaluated. In future work, we plan to check whether adding item metadata into the graph structure may have better results than including it as side-information. Also, we would aspire to extend the Bayesian Optimization to more model parameters and compare the model performances with different data representations and loss functions, among others

Effetti a lungo termine di un programma multidisciplinare di prevenzione cardiovascolare secondaria dopo bypass aortocoronarico

Le malattie cardiovascolari(Cardiovascular Diseases - CVD) sono oggi la più comune causa di morte nel mondo così come nel continente europeo. Alla base di ciò abbiamo l'aterosclerosi, patologia arteriosa multifattoriale, ad andamento cronico e in continua evoluzione, caratterizzata dallo sviluppo di placche ateromasiche all’interno dei vasi arteriosi. Osservando i dati pubblicati, si evince chiaramente come la Patologia Ischemica Coronarica (CHD – Coronary Heart Disease) rimanga la principale manifestazione della patologia cardiovascolare, responsabile di oltre il 35% di CVD e oltre il 40% dei decessi cardiovascolari nel continente europeo.La nascita e l’evoluzione del bypass aorto-coronarico (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery o CABG) è stata una delle componenti chiave per ridurre significativamente la morbilità e la mortalità associate alla malattia coronarica.I soggetti sottoposti a rivascolarizzazione coronarica mediante bypass, rimangono pazienti catalogati come ad alto rischio di eventi coronarici. La recidiva coronarica dunque, in questi soggetti, rimane un evento da considerare comune. Quello qui presentato è uno studio osservazionale retrospettivo, finalizzato a valutare l'efficacia di un programma di prevenzione secondaria nel ridurre recidive coronariche dopo il CABG. Il Programma è stato sviluppato presso il Centro Cardiologico Monzino, proposto a pazienti sottoposti a CABG e residenti entro 100 km dall'Ospedale. Il programma è stato condotto da medici specialisti in medicina interna e medici ricercatori, nutrizionisti e infermieri; la partecipazione al programma è volontaria ed intesa a integrare (non a sostituire) il consueto programma di controlli con il chirurgo cardiovascolare e/o il cardiologo di riferimento. Oltre agli interventi mirati sui singoli fattori di rischio cardiovascolari, il programma si caratterizza per un’azione di empowerment dei soggetti arruolati, al fine di indirizzare i pazienti alle scelte migliori per la tutela della propria salute. Il gruppo Controllo è stato individuato tra i soggetti sottoposti a CABG nel medesimo Ospedale ma residenti a più di 100Km, e quindi non invitati al programma di prevenzione. L'outcome primario dello studio è stato individuato nelle recidive "hard", ovvero recidive spontanee e sintomatiche (angina, infarto del miocardio). Le recidive "soft", ovvero l'ischemia miocradica silente e le rivascolarizzazioni elettive su riscontri di imaging, definiscono l'outcome secondario. Il confronto tra il gruppo dei Partecipanti (n 624) e i Controlli (624), appaiati 1:1 per sesso, età al CABG e Anno di CABG, ha mostrato una significativa riduzione del numero di recidive coronariche nel gruppo dei Partecipanti al Programma. I risultati riferibili all’azione preventiva, analizzati a 5 anni di follow-up, mostrano un rischio di recidiva sostanzialmente dimezzato nei partecipanti al programma di prevenzione rispetto al gruppo controllo. I risultati qui illustrati ci permettono di immaginare un deciso cambio nella gestione del paziente in prevenzione secondaria, cosicché percorsi personalizzati di prevenzione a lungo termine possano diventare parte integrante della gestione sanitaria del soggetto, riconosciuta, condivisa e attuata a livello istituzionale

3D Printing to Automate Shape Memory Alloy Placement in Composite Structures

A new 3D printing technique was developed to automate the selective placement of shape memory alloys (SMA) wires in composite structures for shape morphing. The technique that uses a polymer coating to isolate the SMA from the electrically and thermally conducting carbon fibers, works at room temperature in order to avoid any alteration to the programming of the SMAs while printing. Selective placement of SMAs allows for shape morphing with complex shapes and curvatures

CityGoods

Sistema di supporto alle decisioni per la valutazione di politiche sulla distribuzione urbana delle merci, basato su un apposito modello di domand